L'era del dinosauro

by Richard Marsten, Stanis La Bruna (translator)

L'Autore, Richard Marsten, ci porta, con questo straordinario e avvincente racconto, cento milioni di anni indietro nel tempo, nell'epoca in cui l'uomo non era ancora comparso sulla faccia della terra e il mondo era popolato di rettili giganteschi. Gli uomini hanno scoperto il mezzo di viaggiare nel tempo e una comitiva di cacciatori intrapende questo viaggio nel passato. Il viaggio sarebbe pericoloso, se non venisse creato un campo di forza di protezione, una specie di schermo invisibile, ma più solido di una parete rociosa, che divide la pista obbligatoria sulla quale i viaggiatori devono tenersi, nei loro spostamenti attraverso le vergini foreste dell'era mesozoica, e la terra quasi ancora vergine, popolata da mostruosi rettili, alcuni dei quali carnivori. Ma uno dei viaggiatori, per suoi scopi segreti, infrange volutamente la barriera di protezione. Tutta la comitiva si trova così alla mercè dei rettili. Il viaggio dura una settimana e se alla fine i cacciatori non si troveranno nel luogo fissato per poter tornare nel presente, saranno dispersi per sempre nel passato. Riusciranno, assillati e perseguitati come sono dai pericoli più terribili? È quanto racconta questo romanzo, che, divertendo, istruisce.

Copertina di Curt Caesar

Genres: Science Fiction, Time Travel

128 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1953

About the author

Born and raised as Salvatore Lombino in New York City.
Legally changed name to his pseudonym Evan Hunter.
Best known by his pseudonym Ed McBain.

Reviews

[Last Ranger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Time-Travel Paradox:

This is a fun, nostalgic, look at pre-teen literature from my youth. I read this book in the late 50s and probably reread it several times over the next few years. It had all the elements that I looked for in a book; the main character was close to my age, the villain had no redeeming qualities but his niece was the right age and a real "looker", the supporting characters were either Good or Bad, no gray areas. But most of all this book had Dinosaurs, lots of dinosaurs. Rereading Danger: Dinosaurs now I'm, of course, looking at it through different eyes and can't help but comparing it to the juvenile books of today. For me it still holds up, but I wonder how modern pre-teens would react to it. The story follows a group of explorers from the 20th Century who travel back to the "Age of Reptiles" via a government time-travel facility, a trip financed by a wealthy sportsman who has little regard for rules, or laws, other than his own. It turns out the sportsman does has an agenda of his own and has somehow managed to bring his hunting rifles with him so that he can bag a dinosaur "trophy" ( I guess there was no pre-jump government inspection done). Anyway, things go down hill after that and now the time-travelers are stranded in the Mesozoic till the next scheduled pick-up, at least a week away. The author's narrative is fast moving with some twist and turns in the plot that kept me on the edge of my seat (my younger self that is ). Time-travel stories are always fun to read and usually involve some sort of paradox to be resolved, this one is unique: What would happen to a time-traveler who, while visiting the distant past, is killed? In essence he died before he was even born and, therefore, never existed anyway. What effect would this have on the time-line and the people who now live in an alternate future? What kid, or adult, could resist that kind of mystery? While researching for this review I found a mystery of my own. On Amazon the book's author is Evan Hunter while on Good Reads the author is Richard Marsten. What gives? Apparently the author's birth name was "Salvatore Albert Lombino" and his first published work was credited to that name. In the 50s he legally changed his name to Evan Hunter for his literary pursuits. Using that name, and about 8 or 9 pen names (including Richard Marsten), Hunter went on to a successful writing career, but he is probably better known under the pen name Ed McBain (of 87th Precinct fame). Danger: Dinosaurs was one of my favorite books as a teen and remains an enjoyable read even now, perhaps for different reasons. I'm glad I added it to my Kindle collection and there were no technical of formatting problems with this edition and, by the way, the cover art is great, in a pulp-fiction kind of way.

Last Ranger

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Early reactions:

Info-dump awkwardness as the tourists aren't vetted or prepped, sign no waivers or contracts. Dinosaurs are considered 'reptiles.' Interesting anti-racism and anti-sexism messages of a white guy writing for white guys but wanting everyone to be respected on their own merits.

Now that I've recorded those thoughts, I hope to be able to simply enjoy the rest of the story:

Finished. Def. exciting. And surprisingly well-written, in the phrasing and word choices, and in the pacing of the adventures. I really liked the time slip What If, what if someone dies in the past? Well done exploration of that concept. And the Sense of Wonder with the different dinosaurs was cool. Too bad so much was wrong, even though the author consulted with an expert they couldn't help the fact that so little was known back in 1953.

I absolutely understand why this is so highly rated. I probably would have enjoyed it several times as a young girl myself. Unfortunately, I don't know if there are any of you I can recommend it to. Even those of you who study the Evolution of SF or avidly read Time Travel might balk at the fact that it was, in fact, written for a juvenile audience.

Otoh, I will look for more by the author, and will also read The Devil and Daniel Webster as recommended by a couple of characters.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is part of the Winston science fiction series of boys' series books. Richard Marsten is a pseudonym for Ed McBain (Evan Hunter), a very prolific crime novelist. This is a very nice story that not only involves time travel, but has dinosaurs as well--a classic combination.